Many communication services are available under a variety of pricing arrangements. Wireless telephone service is one example. Wireless telephone service is often billed on the basis of actual minutes (or portions thereof) during which the customer is using the service, but it is also common for service providers to offer multiple pricing plans that charge different rates depending on the time of usage. For example, a wireless service provider may offer a simple “pay-as-you-go” plan under which a customer is charged $0.50 per minute for “daytime” usage (perhaps between 7:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m.) on weekdays, but is only charged $0.25 per minute for “nighttime” and weekend usage. That same service provider may also offer a plan that provides a customer with a specified amount of time the customer may use the communication service in a period without paying an additional charge. Carrying the same example forward, a service provider might offer a customer 100 daytime minutes and 100 night/weekend minutes for $39.99 per month, with any extra minutes billed at the pay-as-you-go rate. In this example, the customer has a financial incentive to subscribe in advance for a preset amount of usage time in a particular period, as the cost is less than it might otherwise be ($39.99 vs. $75.00). In addition to marketing reasons, the wireless telephone service provider may have multiple incentives to offer it customers the ability to subscribe in advance for usage in a particular period. When customers subscribe for usage in advance, the provider may thus have a more predictable revenue stream. The provider may also desire, because of system capacity constraints, to encourage use of its services during certain periods and/or discourage use during other periods.
The financial advantage to the customer may be offset, however, if all minutes are not used. Refunds are typically not provided if less than the entire allotment of minutes is actually used, and there may be limitations on carryover of minutes to the next period. A customer is less inclined to commit in advance to a specific amount of service if that customer does not believe he or she can accurately predict how much service will be needed during a given period, or when during that period that usage may actually occur (e.g., daytime vs. nighttime). In such circumstances, the customer may regard a particular communication service subscription plan as overly restrictive and inflexible. The customer thus foregoes the opportunity to benefit from reduced charges associated with the subscription plan, and the service provider suffers by having a less predictable revenue stream for that period. The service provider also loses the opportunity to encourage use of its facilities during off-peak hours or to otherwise spread the drain on system resources.
Similar arrangements and considerations exist with regard to other communication services. Long distance (wired) telephone service, for example, is often available under various pricing plans that charge different rates depending upon the time of the call, and that may include a pre-set number of calling minutes per billing period. Internet and other computer network access has also been available under varieties of pricing schemes. Moreover, new communication media and methods of communicating over existing media continue to proliferate. For example, cable systems once used primarily for television service now commonly offer broadband internet service, pay-per-view movies, and other services. The uses for cable communication will continue to expand to services such as video-on-demand; telephony (VoIP or otherwise); remote classrooms; and numerous other services employing interactive communication. As uses for cable, wireless or other communications networks expand, however, so do the drains upon network facilities. In addition to bandwidth constraints and other finite limitations on communication media, services may also be limited by available storage (memory), processing and other factors. Accordingly, communication service providers will continue to have a need to encourage service use during certain periods and discourage use during other periods. Offering customers the ability to subscribe in advance to service during a given period thus remains an attractive option.
It would therefore benefit both the customer and the communication service provider if there were a system whereby the service provider could offer one or more subscription plans for the provider's services, but at the same time allow the customer a degree of flexibility in later modifying the chosen plan. If, for example, a customer could subscribe to a quantity of service time in advance (either by actual prepayment or by contractual agreement), but at the same time be allowed to conveniently and quickly make changes to that subscription based on changes in the amount of usage time needed (or regarding the periods when that usage is needed), a customer may be more inclined to subscribe in advance to a specific amount of service. The customer could benefit by enjoying cost savings over a pay-as-you-go plan, and the service provider could benefit from a more predictable revenue stream and from retaining some ability to spread the use of system resources over off-peak periods.
To date, however, there are no known systems by which a wireless telephone service, wired telephone service, cable service, or other communication service offers a customer the ability to conveniently modify the parameters of an account during a particular account period. Continuing the wireless telephone example from above, the customer who purchased a plan providing 100 daytime and 100 night/weekend minutes per month without assessing a per minute charge may decide that she really needs 150 daytime minutes that month, and only needs 25 night/weekend minutes. In order to effect this change, and assuming a service provider was willing, current systems would require the customer to call the service provider and verbally request a change. The service provider would then have to modify the customer's account by human action. It would be advantageous if the customer could instead make changes to the account in an interactive and automated fashion by, e.g., inputting the request via keystrokes on a wireless telephone or other device, or via the Internet or other computer network. Similarly, a customer using wired long distance service may have subscribed to a plan providing X peak period minutes and Y off-peak minutes, but may later find that the actual usage during the period will be X +50 peak minutes and Y −25 off-peak minutes. Currently known systems would require the customer to call the long distance carrier and verbally request a change, with the customer's account then modified by human action. It would also be advantageous in these circumstances if the customer could instead make changes to the account in an interactive and automated fashion. The applicability of this problem to other types of communication services offering pre-paid or pre-subscribed usage levels becomes apparent, as do the advantages offered by a system allowing a customer to interactively modify a subscription in an automated manner.